What we really need to become as prepared as we once was is mandatory conscription. It used to cover almost all men, today I think it covers 7-8 percent of those in the right age. Without having seen the defense from the inside, it must feel foreign and abstract. But it concerns us all and should not be something for a just a few.
For a modern war in europe? Seems to me you need air superiority more than you need warm bodies with three weeks rifle training. And not much more the nordics can do for that considering they are allied with the US already and would allow them to use all ports and air strips.
The ukraine situation is a little different specifically because the US doesn’t want to destroy all russian air forces in a day like in desert storm and escalate things further.
NATO does not have unlimited, or even especially deep, precision munition depth. There is absolutely a need for warm bodies manning anti-tank, artillery, and now FPV drone (10-20km range), positions.
Conscription in Sweden is 9-12 months, depending on role. In 2023 it was 6000 men and women. Much fewer than when I did my service in the 80s, about 35 000/year then. The length is similar though.
The European defense in general hasn’t switched to drone based defense at the same level that Ukraine seems to have done relatively successfully.
While I am firmly of the belief that volunteer armies are preferable to conscription, I would wager the number of conscripted folks willing to shoot at someone invading their homeland is high enough for this to not matter.
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What we really need to become as prepared as we once was is mandatory conscription. It used to cover almost all men, today I think it covers 7-8 percent of those in the right age. Without having seen the defense from the inside, it must feel foreign and abstract. But it concerns us all and should not be something for a just a few.
For a modern war in europe? Seems to me you need air superiority more than you need warm bodies with three weeks rifle training. And not much more the nordics can do for that considering they are allied with the US already and would allow them to use all ports and air strips.
The ukraine situation is a little different specifically because the US doesn’t want to destroy all russian air forces in a day like in desert storm and escalate things further.
NATO does not have unlimited, or even especially deep, precision munition depth. There is absolutely a need for warm bodies manning anti-tank, artillery, and now FPV drone (10-20km range), positions.
Conscription in Sweden is 9-12 months, depending on role. In 2023 it was 6000 men and women. Much fewer than when I did my service in the 80s, about 35 000/year then. The length is similar though.
The European defense in general hasn’t switched to drone based defense at the same level that Ukraine seems to have done relatively successfully.
My point is that you need it for mental preparedness.
In mandatory conscription armies, soldiers deliberately miss the shots because nobody wants to suffer from remorse
While I am firmly of the belief that volunteer armies are preferable to conscription, I would wager the number of conscripted folks willing to shoot at someone invading their homeland is high enough for this to not matter.
As long as it's equal and not sexist.
Why should I have to sacrifice a year or two of my life being bullied and abused, while in my country women get to retire five years earlier?
Biology
And in which case a society that accepts this is bound to open Pandora's box.
That is how every society was pretty recently, how is that a Pandoras box? We know exactly what that looks like.
What comes out of the box?